Ok, so there's a LOT of pictures coming up here! ROFL! But I couldn't help it. I was so tickled with the different expressions on their faces that I couldn't resist sharing them all. Its also a lot of back story, but this is the first time Ive really said much about any of my gliders, so I consider it a bit overdue!
So... back story. LittleBit was the first to come to me. It was back in Febuary of this year, I was literally just a couple of days from beginning a huge move to another state that was going to have me bouncing back and forth from Kentucky to SC three different times in only a month, I wasn't really looking for this little creature to come into my life (aren't those the best surprises?) but I had done some rehabilitation with gliders a long time ago, so when I stumbled across an ad on craigslist for a glider, and I saw a pic of my boy (who was then called Henry) curled up in a little ball on top of his rinky dink and tiny cage clutching a grape like there was no tomorrow, I was catapulted down a path I wasn't expecting.
He was brought to me that same afternoon, and it wasn't a pretty sight. The cage was very small, it was utterly filthy and STUNK to high heaven. He was swinging from the top of his cage in a very ratty homemade pouch and had a water bottle and a little metal measuring cup that sat on the bottom of the cage and that was his food bowl. There was nothing else in his cage. It looked like a prison cell.
The kid who had him had gotten him when he was about six months old, and had had him just a little over six months himself. Putting LittleBit at a bit over a year of age at this point if the timeframe I was given is accurate. The hand-off was in a parking lot, it was freezing cold, and I remember when I took the cage from the guy, these big dark eyes peeked out at me for a split second before ducking back into the pouch. I put him in the truck and remember how the smell was nearly enough to choke us even for the few minutes it took for me to get back to my place.
LittleBit had pretty much been locked up in that cage for six months with no interaction. Poor diet had made him a bit of a smelly boy but we straightened that out. He would never crab, and would hardly ever bark. When he was taken out to play, he would become so anxious about being forced back into his cage he'd fly all over the place and chew on your fingers as if afraid you'd grab him (apparently his previous owner used to grab him by his tail and would snatch him up pretty hard as a way of throwing him back in his cage)
And he would shake. I will NEVER forget this. Those first couple of weeks were the worst in that you could actually hear his cage rattling from the force of how hard he would shake while in his pouch. Even though he gradually became better with not being so terrified at every movement or sound, it was still months before the shaking completely stopped. That was how he got his name, actually. Any time I would see the cage shaking, I would start crooning endearments at him and talking to him, and all of a sudden it got to the point where all I had to do was say "little bit", and he'd stop shaking and pop his head out to figure out where I was, even in the middle of the day. He still does this now. He'd then sit there and let me pet him FOREVER and wouldn't twitch even a whisker. He'd become like a little statue as if afraid that if he moved I would stop petting him.
He is very much my baby now, and he knows it! His personality that he's revealed to me, even just in the past few months, is extraordinary and I can't believe how far he's come since that freezing cold parking lot. I could go on and on about stories featuring this little guy as the main character but I won't. He's pretty strongly bonded to me now, always wants to be either on me or down my shirt when I take him out, and even if he jumps off for a moment to explore something, it isn't 30 seconds before he switches gears and has to figure out where mommy is. He's quite the little cornball and has more personality and spunk then I've ever seen in a glider before, which is saying something! lol!
It was just him and I for a few months, then I began to look for a cagemate. I wasn't interested in purchasing one from a breeder. I wanted to rescue one that needed a home like I had done with LittleBit. Problem was trying to find a female glider when all I could ever seem to track down was males.
Then, a little over three months ago, I found myself arranging a pick up of not one, but two girls. They were actually in Nashville, TN, and my father was the one to go get them as that's where he lives. The girls stayed with him for their 30 day deal and vet checks, while I explained to him over the phone how to take care of them until it was time to bring them to me.
Luna is 2 1/2 years old and had a pretty rough time of it, having been bounced from home to home and had lost several cage mates along the way. She was fed a truly horrible diet for the first year of her life and as a result, we are still a bit on the fluffy side, although she has begun to lose weight and is beginning to become more athletic and play like she should, instead of hiding in her pouch 24/7.
I'm still anxiously awaiting the day that I will see her actually glide. She hasn't been able to do so for a very long time, if she ever did. Even though she's been through so much and is shy, she is the sweetest, most gentle little girl. She's also the most vocal! lol! When I first got her and Lilo, she was very pouch protective and would crab at the slightest provocation. I'm pleased to say though that I haven't heard her crab since that first week I had her. All it took was a few days of bonding, with her curled up in my shirt, before she no longer saw me as a threat.
One of these first bonding experiences really sticks out in my mind the most. I had on two shirts, and she was between the layers, curled up on my stomach, kind of in a "sitting up" position. I reached my hand into my shirt to see what she would do. I cupped my hand over her spine and slightly underneath her back end and held her for a few minutes, stroking the side of her face and neck with my thumb. I was doing this all by touch, not really seeing what she was doing, but after a few minutes I took a peek. She had let go of my shirt and had fallen back into my hand, her belly exposed and all four paws in the air, still sound asleep but nestled in the palm of my hand.
This brought tears to my eyes for two reasons. One reason was the trust factor. It was incredible to me that after the kind of life she had had that she could still be that relaxed and content in such a vulnerable postion. But reason number two was that it was the first time I had been able to get a good look at her paws and saw that she was missing a couple of toes.
Out of all my babies, she's the one with the most battle scars. But despite all of that, she is the sweetest little cuddle bug you could ask for.
Last but SO not least is 10 month old Lilo! Who is very aptly named if anyone wants to know! ;D Those of you who remember the character from the movie Lilo and Stitch will understand what I'm getting at. This little girl is PRECOCIOUS! She's the daredevil, the instigator, the first to explore anywhere, try anything, and as a result, gives me the most heart failure. She LOVES to jump and thinks nothing of just taking off and leaping into empty space with nowhere to land but the ground, simply because she likes to glide. She knows she's hot stuff and thinks herself to be the boss (we are still having "conversations" about that) and is an all around "teenager" at the moment. She PLAYS like nobodys business and OWNS the wodent wheel every night. But she also has a very sensitive and sweet side and is fiercely attached to Luna, and Luna in turn loves her. Even though Lilo has the tendancy to drive Luna nuts with the constant need to play, even in the middle of the day when all Luna wants to do is sleep. The sounds of hissing and grumbling are quite frequent during the day as a result! Reminds me of a child jumping in its parents' bed early Saturday morning, all excited and wanting to go play in the park, when all the parents want to do is sleep in. lol!
All three of the them have been together for a few weeks now, and its been wonderful. Luna and LittleBit are so in love and Lilo has gotten over her initial stuck up reaction to LittleBit and has accepted him as well. They are definitely three peas in a pod and I'm tickled with all of them!! They're spoiled rotten and they know it!
Luna
LittleBit and Lilo
Luna (left) and Lilo (right)
Luna (left) and Lilo (right)
Luna (left) and Lilo (right) ((Shhh... its a secret!)
Lilo
Lilo (left) LittleBit (middle) and Luna (right)
Lilo (left) LittleBit (middle) and Luna (right)
LittleBit (left) and Luna (right)
LittleBit (left) and Luna (right)
LittleBit (My favorite pic... Too freakin' CUTE!!)
LittleBit and Luna (the one saying "that's the spot!")
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That's a great cage, and a very heartwarming story. Very lucky little ones they are, to have come to you and to have found each other. You can see it in their faces. 
